Boris Johnson has told Theresa May to go back to Brussels and find a way that Britain can unilaterally abandon guarantees over the Irish border as the price of Brexiteer support.

The prime minister is facing hostility from dozens of her MPs over fears that her Brexit plan could leave Britain indefinitely tied to the “backstop”, the Northern Ireland insurance policy designed to prevent a hard border.

The guarantee would keep Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union and tie Great Britain to many of the bloc’s rules, unless the EU gave consent for the UK to leave.

Yesterday The Times published a plan by Olly Robbins, Mrs May’s Europe adviser, for a “unilateral” exit mechanism from the backstop. It was requested…

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